What the Romcom
by Royal Rampion Engineer
Summary: After placing a bet with Kai, Thorne sets out to prove that relationships in romcoms can't last. However, as he gets closer to Cress, the cute girl he met at the coffee shop, Thorne's not so sure anymore.


**Hello! This is a fic made for tlc secret santa for danna-bell-is-black on tumblr. It's set in modern day. Enjoy!**

 **The Introduction**

"This is so stupid," Thorne stated, throwing popcorn at the screen. From beside him, Kai let out a gasp of horror.

"Are you kidding? Sappy, romantic Christmas movies are the best. I cannot believe you just called my favorite holiday tradition stupid," Kai responded to his best friend.

From her position sprawled across the floor in front of the sofa, Cinder raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Really? That's your favorite tradition? Not kissing your amazing girlfriend under the mistletoe?"

"Er, yes, of course, the mistletoe is my favorite. Most definitely," Kai coughed. Cinder laughed, grabbing another handful of popcorn.

"You two are almost cuter than this movie," Iko sighed, glancing over at her friends.

"I'll take that as a challenge to improve my romantic-ness," Kai grinned.

"Nooo," Thorne groaned. "Don't give him ideas Iko! And like any relationship could be built off of the stuff of romcoms. It's pure fluff. There's so substance. Any two people who meet and 'fall in love' this way are doomed. It's just not possible for a lasting relationship to happen like they show in this stupid movies."

"Maybe it's just you who can't have a lasting relationship, what with your player ways and all," Cinder teased.

Thorne huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm just not ready for commitment yet, not while I am young and look this good." Cinder rolled her eyes.

"Wait a minute," Kai said, turning on the sofa to look at Thorne. "You really don't think a solid relationship can occur like it does in these movies?"

"No, of course not."

Kai got a gleam in his eye that made Thorne instantly go on edge. Nothing good ever came out of a look like that. "What if we made your love life into a romantic holiday movie? Proved a lasting relationship could come out of meeting someone this way?"

"Yes!" Iko squealed, clapping her hands together. "I am in."

"Me too," Cinder stated. "Anything to prove Thorne wrong."

"Fine," Thorne groaned. "I'll do it. But only to show you guys I'm right. First question: how do we go about this?

Kai rubbed his hands together. "Well, there are five common plot points in all these romantic holiday movies. You'll have to complete each one of them…"

 **The Meet Cute**

"I can't believe I agreed to this," Thorne spoke into the earpiece. He took a sip of his coffee. "I've been in this coffee shop for the past three hours. Literally no one has stopped to talk to me or spilt their coffee or done something equally embarrassing."

"Just give it time," Kai spoke into his ear through the earpiece. "The meeting has to come naturally."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. If nothing happens in the next minute I'm leaving."

Kai sighed. "Fine. But just know that I am very disappointed."

"Gotcha." Thorne replied, throwing away his empty coffee cup and making his way to the door of the café.

"I just can't believe this didn't work. The coffee shop is like the epitome of meet cutes."

Thorne stayed silent, opening the door of the café. As he did so, another person was walking in at the exact same moment.

"Sorry," Thorne said, looking up at the person. When he was met with blue eyes, blond wavy hair, and a blush covering a cute face, Thorne smiled. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to almost hit you with the door." Thorne fixed the woman with the most charming look he could muster. If Kai wasn't happy with this turn of events, Thorne was actually going to give up proving his point right.

"I-It's okay," the woman stuttered back.

"Carswell Thorne," Thorne said, sticking out a hand for her to shake.

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you Mr. Thorne," the woman said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You as well, Ms…" Thorne drawled, hoping she would fill in the blank.

"Darnel. Cress Darnel." Thorne beamed at her, and she looked slightly taken aback.

"Hopefully I'll see you again soon, Ms. Darnel," Thorne winked at her, then left the café, grinning at Kai's shouts of triumph in his ear.

 **The That's-Weird-Why-Are-You-Here Second Meeting**

Three days later, Thorne received a text message from Kai with the words 'Taco food truck by my office building ASAP.' Thorne groaned and muttered about how dramatic his friend was, but sure enough, five minutes later, Thorne was exiting his apartment, headed to the destination.

When he arrived and didn't immediately see Kai, Thorne was very confused. That lasted until he spotted Cress in line at the taco truck. Everything clicked into place. Kai must have had the dumb luck to spot her in the same place he ate lunch, and texted Thorne to enact part two of his crazy scheme.

Thorne smirked, walking up next to Cress in line. He threw a wink back at the person behind Cress who was glaring at him.

"Fancy meeting you again," Thorne said, causing Cress to jump. She backed away, looking at him in confusion. "Guy who almost ran into you at the coffee shop? Ring any bells?"

Cress's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh! Right, Torin, was it?"

"Thorne," he correctly smoothly.

"Right, right. Yeah, it is a little bit weird to actually meet you again." Cress narrowed her eyes at him. "You aren't stalking me, are you?"

"No, no not at all! I just happened to be getting lunch too, and saw you and thought I'd say hello. Plus, the tacos at this truck are to die for."

Cress laughed, her face turning scarlet. "Yeah, they are my favorite. Too bad the line always takes forever though." Cress frowned.

"Hey, at least you got someone to keep you company." Thorne grinned, winking.

"I guess so," Cress replied, a small smile on her face.

So that's how Thorne ended up getting to know Cress a bit more, as they talked waiting for tacos. And if Thorne just happened to slide his number into her purse, telling himself it was just to prove Kai wrong in the end, Thorne couldn't help but hope Cress would actually use it.

 **The Really Deep Conversation**

Thorne's luck happened to hold. A couple days later, Thorne got a text from Cress inviting him to go get coffee together. Thorne accepted, telling himself it was all part of the plan. Meeting Cress and talking more with her would just cement the fact that they were not right for each other, and that their relationship would end from there.

The coffee date was nice—so nice that Thorne kept secretly hoping it could happen again. The two continued to keep in contact, mainly through text messaging. Thorne had almost forgotten about the entire contest, just enjoying getting to know Cress, the cute woman he had had the luck of running into at the coffee shop.

So Thorne didn't find it weird at all when he got a text from Kai, asking him to come up to his office at precisely ten in the morning. The timing was strange, but Thorne just chalked it up to Kai being his anxious self. Thorne entered the lobby of the building, strutting across the lobby. He glanced down at his phone to see if Cress had texted him back when he bumped into the woman herself.

"Cress!" Thorne exclaimed, gripping her arms so she didn't fall back. "What are you doing in Kai's office building?"

"Cyber security meeting. The CEO wanted to talk to the company I work with to increase the security here."

Thorne narrowed his eyes, "What time's the meeting?"

"Ten."

Thorne groaned, but nevertheless ushered the two toward the bank of elevators. No doubt Kai was planning something. "Kai, the CEO, is my best friend. Don't worry about the meeting, I'm sure you'll get the contract."

"Thanks," Cress smiled up at him.

The two entered an elevator, and Thorne began to hum to the music. Suddenly, all the lights flickered off and the elevator shuttered to a halt. They both screamed, hugging each other.

It was a few minutes before they moved again, the two realizing the elevator was just stuck and they weren't going to be harmed. It was then that everything clicked in Thorne's mind. Kai was going to keep them stuck here until they completed the really-get-to-know-one-another event.

So Thorne sighed, settling down and beginning to ask Cress questions about her life.

It seemed like no time had passed at all when the elevator started working again.

 **The Problem**

Thorne had screwed up—big time. It had been months, and Thorne could say with a happy heart that Cress and him were officially dating. It was really great, something that Thorne in no way shape or form expected.

However, one evening, cuddled up in front of the television at Cress's place, Thorne flipped past a romcom.

"Wait," Cress said. "You don't want to watch a romcom?"

Thorne grimaced. "Absolutely not. Those are so stupid."

Cress leaned back, putting distance between them. "You really think so? Like, how we met and got to know one another was a textbook romcom!"

Thorne snorted, "Yeah, thanks to Kai."

Cress stilled, and Thorne realized his mistake. "What do you mean?"

Thorne sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "Kai challenged me that a stable relationship could be built from the chance encounters that make up a romcom. So once I ran into you at the coffee shop, Kai maybe fabricated a couple events so that it would actually be a romcom. But trust me Cress, as soon as I got to know you, the challenge was completely forgotten."

He could see tears welling up in Cress's eyes, and felt his heart begin to break. "So our relationship is a lie?"

"No, Cress—" Thorne reached out to her, but she was already moving away, telling him to leave her place.

 **The Resolution**

It had been a week, and Thorne was in absolute misery. He had tried every trick in the book—red roses, stereo outside her apartment, getting Kai to talk with her—but she was still upset with him. Thorne didn't blame her. He had messed up by not telling her sooner, and now she wouldn't even let him explain himself.

Dejected, he went to the coffee shop that started it all. As he entered, he didn't realize someone was walking out until too late—they collided, coffee going everywhere.

"I'm so sorry—" Thorne started, but pulled up short when he realized who the other person was. "Cress," he breathed out.

"Thorne!" Cress shouted, looking surprised to see him.

"Sorry about your coffee," Thorne said. "And about everything else. It was wrong of me to keep that a secret from you, but I miss you like hell. Anyway an idiot guy with a renewed faith in romcoms could maybe get a chance to start over?"

To Thorne's astonishment, Cress actually blushed. "Maybe. If that chance includes a taco truck?"

"Most definitely," Thorne grinned, feeling happy for the first time all week.

No doubt he would have to tell his friends about the ending. And Thorne would just have to ignore the satisfied smirk on Kai's face.


End file.
